History Of Foster Care In The United States

as taken from the National Advocate

Some of the earliest documentation of children being cared for in foster
homes can be found in the Old Testament and in the Talmud. These references
establish caring for dependent children as a duty under law. Early Christian
church records also show children were boarded with "worthy widows" who
were paid by collections from the congregation.

It was the English Poor Law, however, that led to development and eventual
regulation of family foster care in the United States. In 1562, these
laws allowed the placement of poor children into indentured service until
they came of age. This practice was imported to the United States and
was the beginning of placing children into homes. Even though indentured
service permitted abuse and exploitation, it was a step forward from alms
houses where children did not learn a trade and were exposed to horrendous
surroundings and unsavory adults. Various forms of indenturing children
persisted into the first decade of this century.

In 1636, less than thirty years after the founding of the Jamestown Colony,
at the age of seven, Benjamin Eaton became this nation's first foster
child.

In 1853, Charles Loring Brace began the free foster home movement. A
minister and director of the New York Children's Aid Society, Brace was
concerned about the large number of immigrant children sleeping in the
streets of New York He devised a plan to provide them homes by advertising
in the south and west for families willing to provide free homes for these
children, whether for charitable reasons or for whatever help these children
could be to them. In many cases these children were placed in circumstances
similar to indenture. However, Brace's daring and creative action became
the foundation for the foster care movement as it exists today.

As a result of the blew York Children's Aid Society's placements, sectarian
social agencies and state governments became involved in foster home placements.
Three states led the movement. Massachusetts, prior to 1865, began paying
board to families who took care of children too young to be indentured.
Pennsylvania passed the first licensing law in 1885 which made it a misdemeanor
to care for two or more unrelated children without a license. South Dakota
began providing subsidies to the Children's Home Society after it was
organized in 1893 for its public child care work

During the early 1900's, social agencies began to supervise foster parents.
Records were kept, children's individual needs were considered when placements
were made, and the federal government began supporting state inspections
of family foster homes. Services were provided to natural families to
enable the child to return home and foster parents were now seen as part
of a professional team working to find permanency for dependent children.